Representatives of the National Assembly of People's Power acknowledged in Las Tunas that the model promoted by the Cuban government does not align with the socialism that was originally conceived, during a visit aimed at overseeing the implementation of the package of 176 economic and social reforms approved in June.
"We are living in a deeply political and deeply ideological moment. This is not the socialism we had envisioned, but rather the one we can build. It is a process related to the way each of us thinks and acts," was stated at the meeting of parliamentarians with provincial and municipal authorities, as well as directors of organizations, as reported this Thursday by the official newspaper 26.
The meeting was led by Carlos Rafael Fuentes León, president of the Local Organs of People's Power Commission, who conveyed the guidelines from the president of the National Assembly, Esteban Lazo Hernández, to the authorities in Tunas.
Among those orientations was the requirement for the population to perceive their representative bodies as central actors in addressing the issues affecting the country.
"The population needs to feel that their representative body is at the center of the issues," the source emphasized.
Decentralization towards municipalities also played a central role in the meeting. The new regulations grant the municipal director of Territorial Development the authority to approve the creation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a responsibility that, according to the participants, compels officials to master the current regulations.
But the economic change did not manifest solely as an administrative issue. The parliamentary representatives emphasized the need to ideologically prepare officials and citizens to embrace the new transformations.
"We must prepare ourselves for what these transformations mean. Above all, we need to deepen the preparation of the population; everyone must understand the political-ideological content and know why these measures are being implemented," they stated.
The package of 176 economic and social transformations was approved in an extraordinary session of the National Assembly and includes significant modifications to the functioning of the economic model, such as the elimination of the 100-worker limit for small and medium-sized enterprises (mipymes), the opening up to foreign investment in the non-state sector, and the recognition of private enterprises in agriculture.
"We are living in a moment that is profoundly political and profoundly ideological," acknowledged the representatives of the ANPP in Las Tunas, an admission that, when read between the lines, reveals the magnitude of the crisis that forces the government to reluctantly reform the model it defended as unchangeable for decades.
Despite the official rhetoric, the gap between the government's discourse and the everyday reality of Cubans is evident.
Recently, the Cuban Elizabeth González Aznar directed a public message to the leader Miguel Díaz-Canel, questioning him for speaking on behalf of the population, while she asked him on what basis he claims to have the support of the Cuban people to continue the construction of socialism.
"Why do you claim that you have the support of the people and that the people back your government?" while insisting that "today the people survive and resist, but do not live."
Díaz-Canel himself stated in July that the reforms would be under the control of the Communist Party, dismissing any interpretation of a genuine opening to the market.
Furthermore, the leader has insisted that the revolution and the achievements of socialism must be "saved", as he once again presented the thoughts of the dictator Fidel Castro (1926-2016) as the key to finding a solution to the disastrous circumstances the country is facing.
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